Eternal Flame Bundle with Eternal Hunter & I'll Be Slaying You

Book 0: Night Watch

by Cynthia Eden

Genres: Paranormal; Romance Anthologies & Collections; Paranormal Romance

Synopsis

Eternal Flame Bundle Eternal Flame Cynthia Eden invites you into the world of the Others--supernatural creatures who are sexy, powerful, and more than human in every way. . . No one that deadly should look that good. Hybrid demon Zane Wynter specializes in tracking the most lethal criminals, whether human or Other. But Jana Carter is nothing like his previous targets. She's an Ignitor, able to conjure and control fire. She's also sexy beyond belief--and used to playing dirty. . . Jana knows she's being set up. She even knows who's responsible: Project Perseus, a secretive group that plans to rid the world of paranormals by any means necessary. From Louisiana's sultry swamps to its desolate cemeteries, Jana and Zane must race to destroy the mastermind behind Perseus before their world goes up in flames--and with it, a desire that burns too hot to resist. . . Eternal Hunter Cynthia Eden delves into the dark realms of the Others, where desires and dangerous games await the unsuspecting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. . . Assistant DA Erin Jerome has a secret. Make that two. One: She's not entirely human--she's Other, desperately trying to keep her supernatural strength under wraps. Two: she's got a killer stalking her--an Other rogue set on "gifting" her bloody corpses, not to mention nights lying awake in terror. Small wonder she's been having bad luck with men. But the bounty hunter on her new case isn't worried about any of that. Jude Donovan is a shapeshifter himself, and the new DA's midnight hair and addictive scent tell him all he thinks he needs to know: She's gorgeous, she's definitely not human, and she's bringing out the animal in him in a really good way. He might have to track a psychotic Other stalker through half of Louisiana. But he might also get the chance to watch Erin's wild side come out and play. . . "A fast-paced, sexy thrill ride you won't want to miss." --Christine Feehan "It hooked me from the first page." --Christine Feehan I'll Be Slaying You Cynthia Eden returns to the realm of the Other, where the supernatural bounty hunters of Night Watch work hard and play harder. . . Sandra "Dee" Daniels is a vampire's worst nightmare. Sure, she couldn't get up to five-six in the highest heels money can buy--not that she ever wears heels. But the monsters in her past and the stake in her boot are enough to keep most bloodsuckers interested in staying undead out of Baton Rouge. But there are changes afoot on her turf. Rumors of a Born Master in town--a vampire so powerful he can make the streets run with blood. And a new face in Dee's dive bars and alleyways--Simon Chase, a strong, sexy shadow with a haunted past of his own. Simon knows a lot about the dark side of Dee's work. He knows even more about how to make her body spark with desire. But the hot lust shimmering between them is only the beginning. Because Simon also knows a secret that will change Dee's life--if she can live long enough to uncover it. "I dare you not to love a Cynthia Eden book!" --Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author

Release date: December 1, 2010

Publisher: Kensington

Print pages: 200

Sample

It was a damn sorry night to die, but then, Zane Wynter didn’t plan on dying. Killing, yeah, that was a possibility, but not dying.

Fire exploded in the night. A white-hot mountain of flames burned right through the roof of the old three-story antebellum house on Francis Street and shot toward the sky, its greedy claws a bright orange in the darkness.

“Sonofabitch.” The breath of the flames scorched Zane’s skin. This was supposed to have been an easy collar. Go in, knock out the demon waiting inside, claim his bounty. A simple night’s work for a Night Watch hunter. After the collar, he’d planned to get a beer and maybe a fuck.

He took off his jacket and tossed it onto the ground. No sense getting ash on it.

A scream burst from inside the house. He stilled at the sound because that—that was a woman’s scream. And his prey was male.

Victim inside. Not just the killer he wanted, but maybe an innocent trapped in that inferno, too.

Shit. It really was a piss-poor night. He took a breath, squared his shoulders, and knew that he had to go into that damn house. Sometimes, it just sucked to be him.

Zane raced forward even as the windows of the antebellum exploded, sending glass raining down on him. One kick and he knocked down the front door. Smoke rose, a thick gray fog. The flames crackled, and the house fell around him.

“Jacobson!” He yelled the bastard’s name. Henry Jacobson. A demon who’d been hunting and killing for the vampires in Baton Rouge. A vamp’s bitch. Seriously, what was worse? “Jacobson, where are you?” The smoke stung his nose and made his eyes water as he thundered through the rooms, searching through the smoke and flames.

Another scream. He ran for the stairs, a long, curving staircase that ended in fire and fury. Someone was on the steps. He saw a shadow in the smoke, someone hunched over, holding tight to the railing.

Too small to be his prey.

Victim. Had Jacobson been getting ready for another kill?

Zane took the stairs three at a time. Chunks of the ceiling fell, hitting close to him, and the heat scorched his skin. He coughed, choking on the smoke that thickened the air.

Zane reached out and grabbed—

“Help me!” Desperate blue eyes met his. Wide and dark. So dark. They reflected the flames and her fear.

The woman—small, curvy, shaking—threw her body against his and held on with all her strength. “K-kill… m-me… he was… g-gonna…” She broke off, coughing, choking, just like him.

The roof groaned above them, a long, low rumble that couldn’t be a good sign. He glanced up and saw the cracks and rolling fire in what was left of the ceiling. Fuck.

“H-help…m-me…” She shuddered again, her body rubbing against his.

The devil could take Jacobson. Zane grabbed the woman, lifting her high into his arms. He held her close against his chest and ran back down the stairs. The flames were everywhere. The fire was so damn hot that for an instant, he thought about death.

Nah, not fucking tonight.

He concentrated, calling up the power that lurked inside of him, the darkness that was never far away, and those flames didn’t touch him. Couldn’t.

The woman’s lips pressed against the base of his throat. Soft lips. A delicate touch in hell.

For an instant, one reckless instant, his concentration wavered and those flames surged forward.

Cursing, he dove for the door. They flew into the night, and he turned his body, protecting hers, as they slammed onto the porch. Sirens wailed. The cavalry was coming. Always a bit late in this town.

Her fingers fluttered on his face. “Are you”—a cough—“okay?” A light voice, Southern and soft. Husky. She’d raised her body up, and now she peered at his face with worry in those big, bedroom eyes.

He didn’t answer at first. Just stared at her. The woman was something else. Her skin was a pale ivory, but her high cheekbones and her straight, sharp nose were currently stained with soot. Her lips—damn—were full, sexy. The kind of lips a man fantasized about. A lot. And she had a thick, tumbling mass of black hair. Hair that made her skin look even paler.

“You saved me.” She shook her head, sending those long locks swaying. “Th-thank you.”

A crash shook the house. “Baby, I haven’t saved our asses yet,” he said. Then Zane grabbed her and hauled her to her feet. This was no place for a pit stop. They shot down the curving porch steps, running fast from those flames.

Jacobson.

He pushed her behind the gate at the edge of the drive. He coughed again, hard and long, clearing the smoke from his lungs. A fire truck roared up the street, finally getting close now. He held her arms, staring into those fuck-me eyes. “Was someone else inside? Did you see—”

“I-I think he wanted…to kill…me.” Whispered. Her gaze fell to his throat. “H-he tried to bite me….”

And he noticed her throat then. The red marks. The teeth marks. As far as he knew, Jacobson wasn’t a vamp, not yet anyway. Zane didn’t see the tell-tale bloodsucker puncture wounds on the woman’s neck. No vamp bite. But something was going on with the guy. Maybe Jacobson had been stealing some vamp blood, and he’d started to become addicted.

Vamp’s bitch.

“What happened?”

The fire truck slammed to a halt in front of the house.

She shook her head as her gaze slowly rose to once again meet his. “I-I don’t know…. I shoved him back, we fought…then-then everything just exploded.” Her voice dropped when she said, “He’s still up there.”

Firefighters ran past them, pulling hoses with them. Zane’s jaw clenched as he turned away from her. He should go—

“How…how can I thank you?”

Now that voice was pure sex. His head turned back to hers, real slowly.

She licked her lips, a fast swipe of a small pink tongue. “I would have died without you.” She pressed closer to him. “You came into that fire.” She shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything—you were like an angel.”

Oh, the sexy woman was so confused. “Not quite, baby.” More like the devil. His gaze lingered on those full lips. Definitely not an angel.

“Hey!” A hard masculine bark.

Sighing, Zane glanced over his shoulder and saw one of the firefighters lumbering toward him. “Is anyone still inside?” the guy demanded.

“Up-upstairs…” the woman whispered, and they all looked at the flames.

The house seemed to collapse. Groans and shrieks filled the air, and the rest of the roof tumbled down, smashing right through the upper floors.

Firefighters scrambled back.

“Not fucking alive now,” the firefighter muttered as he turned away. “Dammit!”

If the man inside was human, no, he’d definitely be dead.

But the firefighters weren’t just dealing with a human. If only. And they’d need Zane if they were going to get that fire settled down. Lucky for them, he had a way with flames.

Like most demons, he could control the elements, and fire was his bitch.

But first…

There was the little matter of a thank-you.

Zane wrapped an arm around the woman’s waist. He tipped back her chin with his left hand. Her lips parted in surprise and she said, “What—”

He kissed her. Caught her with her mouth open and drove his tongue inside that sweet heat. And, oh, but she was sweet. His tongue tasted her, stroked her, and he held her tightly against his body, loving the feel of those soft curves crushed against him. A moan rose in her throat, and her hands tightened around his shoulders.

His little victim didn’t push him away. No, she tried to pull him closer.

My kind of woman.

And if those flames weren’t waiting, he’d show her just how she could truly thank him. No time now. But maybe later.

One last lick. One last stroke of his tongue. Then Zane forced his head to lift. Her eyes were closed, and her expression a bit dazed. Her lips were red now, heated from his mouth.

He released her and stepped back.

Her eyelashes lifted, and she blinked. Once. Twice.

“Told you I wasn’t an angel, baby.” He let a grin curve his lips. “But if you want to show me how much you appreciate my help just stick around a while.”

Her jaw dropped. He almost laughed. Almost…but his cock was shoving hard against his jeans, and the firefighters were losing their battle with the flames. They needed him.

So he turned away from her and didn’t look back.

 

“Miss? Miss, are you okay?”

Jana Carter hunched her shoulders at the voice. More vehicles had arrived. Cops. An ambulance. She glanced to the right and found a fresh-faced EMT staring at her.

“Were you burned?” he asked her quietly, compassion flowing with the words.

She let her lips tremble. “N-no.” Her “hero” had disappeared. Had tall, dark, and dangerous really gone back inside the house? To save a killer?

Stupid move. His funeral.

Two cops began to approach her. Time to leave. Jana pressed her lips together and realized she still tasted the man on her mouth. Zane Wynter. Bounty hunter extraordinaire. Yes, she knew who he was. Zane’s mistake was not knowing her identity. He should have been better prepared.

Weren’t the Night Watch hunters always supposed to be prepared? Like freaking Boy Scouts? Night Watch…the multistate bounty hunting agency had a reputation for always getting the job done. Whether the agents were chasing the worst human criminals out there—or stalking the Other who’d crossed the line, they brought down their prey.

Most humans didn’t know about the Other in the world. They didn’t know about the vampires, the demons, the shifters, and the hundreds of other monsters out there on the streets. They didn’t know because they were blind.

Jana wasn’t blind. She knew the real score in this world. And she knew that her “hero” hadn’t been an average hunter, either. No, a man hadn’t hauled her out of the flames. A demon had.

Angel, my ass. She’d almost choked when she told him that one.

“Miss, I need you to get in the ambulance. I want to check you out.”

Ah, now that sounded promising. The ride in the ambulance would let her get away from the cops. Because those boys in blue were already eyeing her with too much curiosity and she really didn’t want to get into an explanation of just why she’d been in the house on Francis Street.

Jana’s knees buckled. The EMT grabbed her, and she let her lashes sag. “So…weak.” Though she’d rarely been weak in her life. Appearances could be so deceptive, but the EMT didn’t realize that.

“It’s okay!” He scooped her up and yelled for help. Seconds later, he was loading her into the back of the ambulance. The doors slammed shut behind them, and the cops were left out in the cold.

Well, with the cold—and with the flames.

The ambulance’s siren screamed on and when the vehicle lurched forward, Jana smiled.

Too easy.

Or maybe she was just too good because Jana had just taken out her prey, destroyed the evidence, and even been given a getaway car. A chauffeured ride away from the scene of her attack.

Not bad for a night’s work.

Poor Zane. The guy obviously thought he was the big, tough demon badass. He’d be realizing soon enough that there was a new sheriff in town.

 

“I didn’t get the demon.” Zane rubbed the back of his neck, felt every ache and pain in his body, and met the stare of his boss, Jason Pak, head-on. “When I got to the house on Francis Street, the place was a damn inferno.” The flames had spread so quickly that the firefighters thought accelerants must have been used to soak the place.

Everything just exploded. The woman’s voice whispered through his head. Yeah, the house had exploded all right. With a little help.

He exhaled and dropped his hand. “The bastard had a victim with him. He was still hunting.” Not just hunting, but acting like a vamp. Trying to bite prey. No longer slicing them with claws and knives, but biting, vamp style. What the hell? “She was lucky to get out alive.”

Pak’s leather chair creaked as the owner of Night Watch leaned forward and flattened his palms on the desk. “Was she?”

Zane’s shoulders straightened a bit. “I pulled her out of the flames.” That good deed had to be worth something, right? No matter what most folks thought, he didn’t spend his whole life telling the world to screw off.

“Where is she?” Pak’s fingers drummed on the desktop. There was a skeletal staff in the Night Watch office then. Most of the bounty hunters were out on cases. Dragging in prey.

Pity. This time, Zane wouldn’t have any prey to bring in.

“The EMTs took her to the hospital,” he told Pak. “She’d sucked in a lot of smoke, and that jerk-off Jacobson bit her.”

“Any other injuries?” Pak’s dark gaze was steady.

“Uh, no. None that I saw.” He hadn’t smelled blood on her, but the smoke had been clogging his nose. He didn’t think the woman had been hurt. But she’d trembled against him.

Desire? Fear? Or pain?

“What did she look like?”

Zane blinked at that. “Ah…pretty. About five-foot-four, curvy, black hair, blue eyes—”

“Could have changed her appearance,” Pak murmured and his fingers stopped tapping.

And Zane got a really bad feeling in his gut. “Uh, excuse me?”

Pak’s black brows shot up. “Did I ever tell you I thought you handled yourself damn well when all that shit went down with Dee?”

Dee. Dee Daniels was another bounty hunter in the office. She’d watched his ass, he’d watched hers, for years. He’d trusted the woman with his life more times than he could count. Then she’d become a vampire.

“I do my job,” Zane said quietly. Just like he’d done his job when Dee changed. He’d protected her and made sure the assholes after her were taken down. “No matter what happens, I do my job.”

Pak rose and walked around the edge of the desk. A ghost of a smile curved his thin lips. “Good. You know the job has to come first.”

What the hell? The job always came first for him. Zane sucked in a sharp breath. “Jacobson’s body wasn’t recovered on the scene. The fire department was still there when I left, digging through the rubble, but—”

“But you don’t think they’ll find a body? Or what’s left of one?”

“Jacobson was a demon.” Demons and fire always mixed. “The guy was low level, but he should have been strong enough to knock the flames back, at least for a few moments.” A few moments would have been all the guy needed for an escape.

“You want to keep searching for him.”

Hell, yeah. “He’s my collar.”

Pak didn’t blink. That dark stare just weighed him.

“Uh, boss?” Pak didn’t usually get all quiet and focused like this unless he was out in the swamps, talking to the gators. The guy was a charmer, a being born with the ability to speak to animals. On the weekends, Pak would spend hours with the twelve- to fourteen-foot gators that loved to snap and feast in those muddy waters.

“I’m going to give Jude the Jacobson case,” Pak said.

“The hell you—”

“Jude can go back to Francis Street. If Jacobson got away, he’ll catch the guy’s scent.”

Jude Donovan was good at catching scents. But then, Jude was a white tiger shifter, so he’d fucking better be good at sniffing.

Zane locked his muscles. “Jude’s good at tracking, but so am I, and you know I don’t stop on a case until I’ve got my prey.” Especially not if the prey was a demon. He always brought the demons down. Or put them down, depending on the case.

“Jude’s got Jacobson,” Pak said, staring up at him.

Fuck. Every muscle in Zane’s body tightened and his hands clenched.

“Because I need you on something more important,” Pak told him.

“What?”

Pak shook his head. “You can take the fire, Jude can’t. That means he can’t take her.”

Her.

“I don’t think an accelerant was used on Francis Street,” Pak said, “Just like no accelerant was used three nights ago at the fire on Biltmore that took out two vampires, or at the three fires in New Orleans that occurred over the last few months…. Fires all aimed at supernaturals.”

Okay, Pak sure had Zane’s attention. Someone was targeting supernaturals?

“They were aimed at the Other, but it looks like humans were caught in the crossfire. Two human scientists died.”

Hell.

“ ’Course, the arson investigators think an accelerant was used because those fires burned so fast and so hot.” Pak reached behind him and scooped a manila file off the top of the desk. “A woman was spotted at the crime scenes. Average height. About one-hundred-thirty pounds.”

Zane’s gut clenched.

“Witnesses saw a blonde, with curly hair, running from the other fires.”

Blonde. Maybe she changed her appearance. Now he knew what Pak meant. “The woman tonight was a victim.”

Pak stared back at him, that dark stare unblinking. “You sure about that?”

Too much doubt was in Pak’s voice, and Zane realized that no, he wasn’t sure. In this world, you couldn’t be sure of anything or anyone. Damn. He might have been played. Jaw clenched, Zane demanded, “Just what am I dealing with here?”

“If I’m right, the woman you’re looking for is a human with a very special gift. A gift of fire.”

Shit. An Ignitor. A human who could create fire from nothing, who could let it burn fiery hot and so very fast. A human who could destroy too much.

“You’ve had experience dealing with Ignitors,” Pak said.

Zane’s head jerked in agreement. Not the best experience.

“I want you to find this one. Find her, and bring her in.” The briefest of hesitations. “If the woman from tonight isn’t the one we need, clear her, and move on. But I expect to have the Ignitor who is making these fires contained within the next forty-eight hours.”

Well, it would be easy enough to find the dark-haired beauty with the bedroom eyes. The EMTs had taken her in. She’d still be at the hospital now.

Unless she ran. Unless she wasn’t the victim. Unless she screwed me.

Zane forced his hands to unclench. “Sometimes Ignitors can be hard to contain.” He paused, because the question had to be asked. “Is this a kill mission?” With Ignitors, there wasn’t always a choice. If the fire raged too hot…

Kill or be killed.

“We want her alive,” Pak said. Then the cagey bastard added, “For now.”

 

How long did it take to bandage a bite mark? Jeez, it wasn’t like the demon had even broken the skin. After two hours—two freaking hours—Jana managed to slip away from the nurses and the docs in their garish green uniforms. She snuck out of the hospital’s exit, making sure she stayed in the shadows, and she hurried down the street as quickly as she could.

It took her about two minutes to realize that she was being trailed. Bad, bad mistake. She should have realized that fact in about thirty seconds.

Must be slipping.

Jana rolled her shoulders, trying to keep her body loose. In this town, she knew she had to be ready for anything. Sure, the majority of women would probably worry about muggers waiting in the night. She knew she was more likely to be attacked by a hungry vamp or a pissed-off demon.

No, Jacobson’s dead. No way did he get out.

She hoped.

Okay. There were two ways to play this. She could attack with guns blazing or…

Jana stepped out of the shadows. “I-I…is someone there?” She let her voice tremble. Playing weak came so naturally to her. She looked weak. Small. Fragile. All the better to lie.

No one answered her. Her eyes narrowed. Time to hit the main street and get off this quiet lane. She could hail a cab and be back at her place in half an hour.

The wind blew against her face, a cold, icy wind, and for an instant, she caught the smell of…ash.

Her body stiffened. Oh, hell, no. That job was finished. She inched back, her gaze darting around the area. She couldn’t risk being taken down.

Jana started heading for the main street. A cab would come along, it had to. And if it didn’t…

A hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist. She screamed because that was what she should do.

“Relax, baby. It’s just me.” Zane gave her a shark’s smile, one with lots of sharp, white teeth. “Your knight in shining armor.”

Only he didn’t look particularly knightlike then. The guy was a big, strong menace in the darkness. She knew just how dangerous he was.

“Were you following me?” she whispered and stepped closer to him. Damn, but the guy had some broad shoulders. And a wide, muscled chest.

He was handsome, in a rough, wild kind of way. Dark hair and brows, long, slightly twisted nose, lips a little thin, jaw perfectly square and strong. His eyes were dark shadows now, but she knew his piercing gaze was green. She’d seen his picture long before she met him at the fire. She always studied pictures of her targets. After all, a woman had to make sure she was going after the right mark.

“Following you?” His voice was deep, rumbling, and a shiver worked over her body. From the cold because she didn’t do so well with the cold, and not because she found that rumble sexy.

She glanced back over her shoulder. “I thought I heard…” Jana shook her head and forced her own smile as she looked back at him. “Nothing.”

But she knew he was watching her. Weighing her. Trying to see past her skin.

“Let me take you home,” he said.

If you want to show me how much you appreciate my help just stick around a while.

Her chin rose. Was sex on the demon’s mind? Or was it something more?

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Jana.” The name was safe enough. “Jana Carter.” She paused and shivered again. Damn.

“I’m Zane Wynter.”

Right. Zane Wynter, super hunter. Demon badass. Check. “You did follow me, didn’t you?”

“No, baby, I just got here. I saw you walking….” He shrugged. “I was checking up on you. I wanted to see if you were okay.”

Oh. Sweet. Also…lie.

She put her hands on his chest. “I’m okay.” Good thing she knew how to play the game.

“No, bitch, you’re not.”

Hell, she knew that voice. Jana’s head whipped around, and she locked eyes on Henry Jacobson. Crap—the jerk had made it out of the fire.

Well, mostly, anyway. He stepped under a flickering street-light, and she saw that deep, red blisters covered the right half of his face. Blisters that stretched and twisted down his neck. His shirt had melted, merging with the skin on his chest and the stench of burned flesh filled her nose.

Knew I smelled ash.

She gasped dramatically and shoved her body against Zane’s. The big hero would save her, right?

“Jacobson.” Fury vibrated in Zane’s voice.

Jacobson, no, Henry—’cause, yeah, he’d asked her to call him by his first name when he’d picked her up at that low-class bar—snarled. His eyes were pitch black, the perfect black of a demon’s true gaze. Most demons used the magic of glamour to hide their real eye color so the humans wouldn’t run screaming all the time. Henry wasn’t trying to pretend right then, not trying to lull her like he’d done before.

The man wanted blood—hers. Too bad for him…she was rather fond of living.

“Give me the bitch,” Henry growled. “And just walk the fuck away.”

Oh, um, no, that wouldn’t work so much as a plan.

Zane grabbed her hands, held tight, then shoved her at Jacobson. She staggered to a quick halt a few feet in front of Zane.

What the hell? Zane was supposed to be the damn good guy.

She blinked and shook her head. Not part of the plan.

“You want her?” Zane drawled. “Then come and get her.”

What? Asshole. Was he using her as some kind of freaking bait? She was not good bait.

Jacobson launched right at her, running hard and fast with his hands out, with death in his eyes, and she knew if he touched her, he’d rip her apart.

Dammit. She didn’t plan on dying. Not then, and certainly not by some low-budget demon jerk’s hand.

Jana yanked out the scalpel she’d stolen from the hospital and screamed as Jacobson’s foul stench choked her.

Not. Dying. Tonight.

The woman—Jana—sliced Jacobson right across his injured arm. A hard, deep slice that had the demon howling…and Zane swearing.

Not an Ignitor. Pak was wrong—this woman couldn’t stir fire. Shit, if she could, she’d be burning Jacobson to ash, not screaming and stabbing with—what was that?—a scalpel.

Innocent.

And he had one rule. Just one. On his watch, no innocent woman would ever be hurt while he was there.

So when Jacobson knocked the scalpel out of her hands, and Jana stumbled back, Zane lunged forward and did what he’d been dying to do all night.

He got ready to kick some demon ass.

Zane caught Jacobson’s hand, squeezed hard and heard the demon’s breath whoosh out when the bones crunched. “Get behind me,” Zane ordered, and Jana rushed, nearly tripping as she hurried to obey.

A human. Small and defenseless. And Jacobson had been ready to kill her.

“Not your fight,” Jacobson gritted out.

“Asshole, I’ve been looking for this fight for days.” He grinned. “And if you hadn’t been hiding like the coward you are, I would’ve already kicked the shit out of you.”

Fear widened Jacobson’s black eyes as he struggled to break free of Zane’s hold. “I just want her.”

“You’re not getting her.” Playtime was over. He’d run his test on Jana. Seen what he needed to see. Not my target. Time to end the game.

Then the prick head-butted him. Well, tried to. Zane jerked back, punching out hard at the same time, and Jacobson fell to the ground.

Footsteps thudded behind him. Jana…running away. “Wait!” His head swung toward her.

And that asshole demon charged him, grabbing Zane around the waist, and they both went down hard, slamming into the pavement.

Jana kept running. The thud of her footsteps echoed in Zane’s ears.

“Don’t worry about the bitch,” Jacobson grunted, and oh, damn, but the guy’s face was wrecked. “The others will get her.”

What? Others?

“You think you’re so bad…hunting your own kind.” Jacobson plowed a fist into Zane’s face, and Zane took the punch because he wanted the bastard to keep talking. “Fucking traitor, want to be human, can’t—”

This time, Zane caught the fist that came at his face. And because the demon had pissed him off, Zane broke two of the guy’s fingers.

Jacobson howled. Zane squeezed tighter. “Who are the others?” he demanded. He couldn’t see Jana anymore. That woman sure moved fast for a human.

“L-let…g-go…”

Zane smiled. “No.” It was his turn to head-butt. He smashed his forehead into Jacobson’s nose.

The demon crawled away, gagging as blood flew from his broken nose.

“Something you should know,” Zane murmured as he rose to his feet, brushing off his hands. Jacobson was still on the ground, moaning. “I like to fight dirty.” Then he drove his booted foot into Jacobson’s side. Paused. Then did it again. The demon curled into a ball. “Next time, leave the humans alone.”

“Bastard!”

True. But flattery wouldn’t stop him. Where was Jana? Zane risked one moment to let his gaze rake the darkness.

That was when he heard her scream.

 

“You’re a naughty girl, Jana.” The angry whisper blew against her ear.

Damn the supernaturals in the city. They were everywhere, and it sure seemed like they were all gunning for her. Why was she becoming Ms. Popular?

“Let me go,” she said loudly, really hoping that Zane had caught her scream. And, come on, what had been up with him shoving her at the crazy demon? Hadn’t the guy ever heard of protecting the weak? Hadn’t she looked weak enough for him?

“You’re a hard woman to track.” The jerk didn’t let her go. He just shoved her up against some smelly alley wall. She couldn’t see his face. Since she was human, she didn’t get bonus vision in the dark. Just a body that could break too easily. And had, too many times.

“Wh-what do you want?” Come on, Zane, haul ass. She didn’t need to see in order to know the identity of the man who’d snuck up on her and now held her in his too cold and too tight grip. She hadn’t planned to meet him tonight. Hadn’t been ready. But she’d known that he was watching. He was one of those pricks who liked to watch while the world went to hell around him.

“I want to make sure you understand the rules of the game.” Great. He’d pushed her hair to the side and now his breath was on her neck. She really didn’t want this guy’s mouth on her neck. She didn’t want him anywhere near her.

If Zane’s not coming, then I can take care of him. I can do it.

As long as Zane wasn’t there to see….

Her breath came out on a long, slow rush. “I understand the rules.” He didn’t.

“Then why the hell did you go after my man?” His claws pressed into her chest. Right above her heart.

Jana stilled, barely daring to breathe because she’d just caught the glint of fangs in the dark. When a vamp’s fangs were that close to your throat—hell. And those claws hurt. He hadn’t shoved them too deep, not yet, but if he wanted, the guy could cut her heart out in less than two seconds’ time.

I hate vampires.

“How was I supposed to know he was yours?” She started talking, fast, but kept her voice quiet now. “He’s a demon, I thought—”

A growl. “You thought wrong. You’re not supposed to attack the demons.”

Wasn’t she? Sometimes, the jobs all ran together.

“I let you live after you took my men—”

Right, those two evil, sadistic, murdering bastards had been his men.

“I tracked you, could have fucking drained you dry, but I let you live.”

The vamp smelled like a graveyard. Jana tried real hard not to inhale too deeply.

“You’re alive because I want you to hunt,” he snarled, “and you hunt who I say. I’m the one in charge, bitch.”

“Jana!” Oh, finally, Zane’s voice. Talk about taking his sweet time.

“He’s the prey. The first you’ll take down for me.” The freak licked her neck. Licked her. “And I want him to suffer.”

What? Zane? He wanted her to attack Zane?

“Show me just what you can do, bitch. Kill him, or die.”

She nodded weakly. Because, really, what choice did she have?

He released her, finally moving those claws away from her heart. The wounds he’d made ached, throbbing dully. Her head sagged forward. She inched toward the light. Toward Zane. He was running fast, racing to get to her.

“Kill him.”

She glanced back at the vampire hiding in the shadows. Jana took two more steps away from him, turning so that she had the best view of his hulking body, and then she smiled.

“I’m not still in this town just so I can be your bitch,” she whispered and let the frightened act vanish. The vampire froze, and she knew he’d gotten a good look at her face. Her eyes. “I stayed to take you out.” He’d been her target all along, but she’d missed him that first night. Then he’d gotten the jump on her. Sometimes, a woman had to wait and find her perfect killing time.

Now.

And here she’d thought it would be hard to lure the vampire to her. All she’d had to do was light the right fire under his little demon minion, and she’d gotten his personal attention.

“No!” He lunged at her.

But she wasn’t in the mood to get her heart torn out right then.

 

Zane raced into the alley, his legs pumping, adrenaline powering his blood.

And he smelled flames.

Then he saw the fire sputtering near the dumpster. He waved his hand, and the flames quieted.

“Jana?”

She wasn’t there. He crept forward and stared down at the charred remains on the ground. Fuck. The stench stung his nose.

“Jana!” But she was gone, and a hot fury began to burn in his gut because Zane realized that he’d been played. For the second time, he’d been taken in by a pretty, lying face. A face that hid a real monster behind the cloak of innocence.

He snatched out his phone. Dialed Pak. One ring and his boss picked up. “We’re gonna need a cleanup crew on Range-line.” Dammit. Played. “And you were right.” He paused a moment, watching the smoke drift in the air. “The woman’s not a victim.” An Ignitor’s back in town.

 

The demon was strapped to the table, his legs and arms secured, and the blood had dried on his face.

“I thought I told you that Jude would be taking over the Jacobson case.”

Zane shrugged at Pak’s words. “The bastard came after me. What did you want me to do? Let him walk away?”

“Not you, asshole!” Jacobson tried to lunge up, but the straps held tight. “I was after her!”

Zane pulled over a chair and got real close to the demon. Close enough to touch, to hurt. “Who is she?”

Jacobson would be transferred out soon enough. Pak had plans for the guy, but first…

“Where did you meet the woman?” he pressed. Jana. Was that even her real name? Jude was running a search on her. Maybe the shifter would turn up some intel on the name, but in the meantime—

Zane was in the mood to get answers from the demon, and he would have those answers, one way or another.

“Fuck you!” Jacobson spat at him.

Zane blinked. “Wrong. Answer.” He drove his fist into Jacobson’s face. Payback could be a bitch.

“Ah… Zane?” Pak’s voice was completely flat.

Jacobson spit out a tooth. “You think…you’re so much fucking better than the rest…of us….”

Zane’s shoulders tensed.

Jacobson laughed. A ragged, rough sound. “But you’re worse…. Under the skin…you’re worse!”

Zane smiled at him. “You really don’t want to see just how much worse I can be.”

Pak’s arm came down on his shoulder. “Zane…” A slight warning there.

Zane didn’t glance back at him. “This demon knows about your Ignitor, Pak.” A woman he’d literally had right in his hands—twice—and he’d let her slip away.

Because he was looking straight at Jacobson, he caught the demon’s flinch. Ah… “Where did you meet her, Jacobson?”

Jacobson’s lips firmed.

“Where?” Pak demanded.

“Some damn bar! Bitch came up to me.” His lips twisted, showing his bloodstained teeth. “She was all over me.”

Every muscle in Zane’s body locked.

“She wanted to leave, so I took her to my place. Then she tried to burn me!”

Tried? Succeeded. Those blisters would take a long time to heal, even with a demon’s enhanced recovery system.

“In the last two weeks, you’ve picked up three women from bars in the area,” Pak said, the words so calm he could have been talking about the weather. His hand lifted from Zane’s shoulder, and Pak came to stand at his side. “We found the body of your first victim. You took her to the vamps, didn’t you? You let them drain her dry.”

Jacobson stared up at him, his eyes burning with black rage.

Pak crossed his arms over his chest. “We haven’t found the second woman yet.”

The bastard laughed again. Laughed. “You won’t. There was nothing left of her. Not when the vamps finished.”

Put him down. Zane knew Jacobson wasn’t one of the demons that would be turned loose one day. You didn’t let a rabid dog back out to hunt.

“Then you came upon a new lady….” Pak’s voice pitchedlower. “One who was ‘all over you.’”

“She was, she—”

“Did this woman ask you anything?” Pak cut across his roaring words. “Did she say—”

“The whore just burned me!”

“But you got to live,” Zane snapped. “Her last victim wasn’t so lucky.” He grabbed the knife from the sheath on his leg and put the blade right at Jacobson’s throat. “You’re not gonna be lucky much longer.”

“Zane…” Pak’s whisper.

Jacobson started to smile.

“Don’t slice too fast,” Pak continued. “You want him to feel the pain.”

Jacobson’s black eyes widened. “No!”

So Jacobson was another one who loved to torture prey, but couldn’t stand pain himself. “Who’d she kill in the alley?” The others will get her. Jacobson knew the guy who’d burned, no doubt.

Zane let the blade cut through skin.

“Vincent!” Yelled. “Shit! I-it was Vincent Gunner! He was with me. There were two humans there, but he—he told ’em to stay back, that we could handle her.”

“But you couldn’t, could you?” Vincent Gunner. He knew the name. A powerful vampire on Night Watch’s kill list. Gunner had been a cruel asshole who enjoyed slowly bleeding humans dry—women. Only women.

Had he picked the wrong prey? Or was something more going on here?

“Hey, Wynter!”

Zane’s head lifted at Jude Donovan’s call. The shifter stood just inside the doorway of their holding area. Jude clutched some papers in his hand and lifted them toward Zane. “I found your girl.”

Zane glanced back at the demon. The knife still bit into Jacobson’s flesh.

“I’ll finish him,” Pak said.

And Zane knew he would. Knew Pak would get every drop of information, and then he’d eliminate the demon’s threat.

Zane stepped back.

“I need some help!” Jacobson told the charmer. “Get me a doctor, get me—”

“You’re a demon,” Pak said. “You’ll heal from just about anything.”

“I want out, man. I need—”

“Some folks are waiting on you, Henry.”

The demon jerked on the table, straining against the straps. “A jail’s not gonna hold me! Nothing can, nothin—”

“I didn’t say you’d be going to jail.” Still no emotion in Pak’s voice. “I just said that folks were waiting on you.”

Jacobson’s case had been a government deal. Because, yeah, the government knew about the supernaturals out there. They liked to pretend they didn’t, better for the public image that way. But they knew, and they had their own “extermination” list.

Jacobson was at the top. Some men and women in black would be coming for him soon and, after they picked him up, Jacobson wouldn’t be returning to Baton Rouge again.

Zane caught Jacobson’s whimper just as he reached Jude’s side. The demon seemed to finally understand. This is the end for you, Jacobson.

Jude held up the pages, and the first thing Zane saw was…her.

No, not Jana. Not exactly. Different hair. Blond. Different eyes. Brown, not blue. Same mouth. Same nose.

Pak had told him a blonde was seen at the other scenes. So she’d dyed her hair. And he’d found a black-haired lady at Francis Street. “Who is she?” he demanded.

They left holding, walking back to the Night Watch’s main offices. “She’s got some aliases,” Jude told him. “Katherine Tanner, Judy Bright, Melissa Jones. But from what I can tell, her real name’s Jana Carter—”

Jana. Wait, she’d given him her real name?

“She was put in a juvenile facility when she was thirteen. She stayed there for five years.” Jude’s bright gaze met his. “Apparently, the woman liked to start fires.”

Fuck.

“Police want her for a series of fires in New Orleans,” Jude said.

Zane took the pages and scanned the info. His prey was thirty-one, five-feet-four inches tall, and one hundred-and-thirty-three pounds.

“Her stepfather died in the fire that landed her in the juvie facility,” Jude continued. “I guess she started young.”

Looked that way.

A killer? He’d stared right into her eyes and hadn’t seen what she really was. He was slipping. Or maybe she was just real good at lying.

“From what I can tell, she’s been selling out her services to the, ah…”

Zane glanced up at him, eyes narrowed.

“Highest bidder for the last few years. If you’ve got a supernatural you want taken down, she’s your girl. Vamps, charmers, low-level demons…she’s a real equal-opportunity killer.”

How can I ever thank you?

Such a sweet, lying mouth. He stared down at the picture again. At her. He’d really thought she might be innocent.

He kept making the same dumb-ass mistakes.

“You gonna be okay on this one?” Jude asked quietly.

The office buzzed around them. Phones rang. Voices called out. The fax machine beeped.

Zane tucked her picture into his back pocket.

Jude frowned. “Look, I know the last Ignitor case you worked with was—”

“I handled her, didn’t I?” Zane fired back, breaking through the words.

Jude’s head moved in the faintest of nods.

Handled her. Such cool words for the death he’d given the other woman. “I can do my job. I can do what needs to be done.” The same spiel he’d given Pak, but he meant the words. Nothing, no one would stop him.

“Good.” Pak spoke from behind him, and Zane tensed. “Because Jacobson gave me a location. He says the woman found him in a dive called Dusk. It’s a new club that opened on St. Antony and—”

“I know the place,” Zane said, exhaling. Word traveled fast in this town. “It’s a den.” A demon’s den. The place for his brethren to go in and take their drugs of choice. Darkness rode many of his kind, and the drugs, oh, they tempted.

“Oh, shit, man, I can take this one,” Jude offered. “I know you—”

“Can take on a den any day of the week.” Damn, but he regretted the drunken night he’d made the mistake of spilling his past to the tiger shifter. That guy never forgot anything.

“Then go get her,” Pak said, “bring her in. No matter what it takes, bring her in.”

Time to take another killer off the streets.

 

“You shouldn’t go in there.” The husky, very female voice stopped Zane cold just as he prepared to climb the steps leading up to Dusk.

The voice was laced with a soft drawl, edged with a breath of sex, and it crawled over his body like a caress.

A demon shoved past him, heading inside Dusk, and when the door opened, the beat of the music blasted Zane’s ears and the scent of drugs burned his nostrils.

“Of course, you don’t have to listen to me,” she murmured. Jana. He turned his head a few inches to the right and saw her slide from the darkness. “It can be your funeral.”

She looked vulnerable. Small, delicate. Almost helpless as she stood in the shadows with her arms crossed over her chest. Watching him with such big eyes.

But her words… “Ah…did you just threaten me?” He moved away from the door. Turned his back on the den and began to stalk her.

She crept once more toward the shadows and he followed her. His heart rate kicked up. She’s making it too easy.

“You won’t believe this,” she told him, “but I’m not the threat tonight. Well, not the one you need to be worried about.”

She was close enough to grab now.

A soft sigh slipped past her lips as her hands dropped to her sides. “You shouldn’t have come here. You should’ve just taken the demon in and called it a day.”

A shocked laugh broke from his lips, one without a drop of humor. “Lady, you killed someone in that alley.”

She flinched. “The vampire would have killed me. I didn’t have a choice.” Her right hand lifted and rubbed against her chest. Thanks to his demon-enhanced senses, he saw the blood on her shirt, and he caught the coppery scent on the wind. “What did you want me to do?” she asked, and heat blasted through her words. “Just stand there and let him cut my heart out?”

A muscle jerked in his jaw.

“Or maybe I should have waited for you,” she muttered, those sexy eyes narrowing, “like he wanted. I should have waited, and then I should have made sure you were the one who didn’t walk out of that alley.”

His hands flew out and he caught her, pulling her close and lifting her right off her toes. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m easy to kill.”

Her chin inched up. “And you don’t need to make the mistake of thinking you’re immortal. Everyone can die. Everyone.”

“You’d know, wouldn’t you, baby? You kill for the highest bidder.”

She didn’t blink. Those eyes stayed locked on him, still blue. The fire hadn’t lit within her yet. If it had, her eyes would have been blood-red.

“Do you know what I did to the last Ignitor who came at me with fire in her eyes?” he demanded. Her mouth was temptingly close. He’d kissed that mouth before. Tasted her. Wanted more. Fool.

A guy’s dick could get him into some serious trouble.

“Dumb ass,” she said, and his eyes narrowed. “I’m not charging up. I’m trying to warn you.”

“About what?”

“My…services.” The right side of her mouth kicked up into a hard smile, and damn if a dimple didn’t wink at him. Deceptive package. “Who do you think the number-one target is in this town? Who do you think the demons want taken out? The vamps?”

Shit.

“That’s right. You. The vamp in that alley wanted you taken out, and he sure wasn’t the only one to want a fried demon handed to him.” Her gaze darted behind him to Dusk. “The demons sure don’t like that you’ve been hunting your own kind.”

Fuck ’em. “I don’t hunt them all.” What? Was he defending himself? To her? “Just the ones who cross the line.” His fingers were digging too hard into her arms.

He took a breath and let her slide back to the ground, let her feet touch down, but he didn’t free her. Wouldn’t. He had plans for Jana Carter.

“What line?” she asked him, shaking her head. “The one you made up? The one that says some folks are bad, some are good, and smart, all-powerful you gets to punish the ones you think screwed up?”

He glared at her. Like she could judge him.

“Maybe I should let them rip you apart.” Her tongue flashed out to lick her bottom lip.

He couldn’t help it. His stare dipped and followed that fast lick. His body tightened. Damn. He took a breath and swore he tasted her. “If you’d been smart, you would’ve left town. After you killed the vamp, you should have run.”

“Maybe.” A shrug. “But you came into the fire for me.”

Because he’d thought she needed him. Thought she was a human who’d needed rescuing. The truth was that the woman could have gotten out of that house without the flames even touching one inch of her perfect skin.

“No one’s ever tried to save me before,” she added. “I thought you were…sweet.”

He growled.

“So I wanted to even the score.” Another shrug that sent her dark hair settling over her shoulders. “I knew you’d come looking for me. I figured it was only fair to give you a warning.”

Fair? The woman who torched for a living wanted to talk fair? Zane could only shake his head. “Thanks, baby, but believe me, I don’t need your help.”

Her gaze slid away from his once more. Back to the club. He caught the whisper of fast-moving feet and the scent of booze and death. Battle-ready tension had his heart slamming into his chest.

“You sure about that?” she asked and that same half-smile lifted her lips, making her dimple flash. “Okay. Have it your way, then, stud. Take ’em all.”

He spun around, his eyes zeroing in on the entrance to Dusk. Sure-damn-enough, the demons were snaking out the front door. At least ten of them so far, and their black eyes—filled with fury and hate—were all locked on him.

Jana’s hand pressed into his back, a warm, sold weight. “Have fun with the fan club,” she said and then her shoes thudded as she ran away.

Two seconds later, the demons closed in on him.

JJana ran for fifteen seconds. Then ten more. Then, ah, hell, she spun back around.

She couldn’t see Zane anymore. Her big, bad demon was in the middle of a pile of bodies. She heard the thud of flesh, the snarls from the attack, and she knew he was probably on the bottom of that pile.

“Bet you’re wishing you’d taken my help now,” she whispered and clenched her hands into fists as her body began to charge. The air around her warmed. “Don’t worry, demon. I pay my debts.” He’d come for her, so she’d be there for him.

Then…even. No more debt. Free and clear.

A demon flew through the air and slammed into the concrete. He didn’t get back up.

A faint sheen of red fell over her vision, like a mist. Jana marched forward with slow, determined steps. Her breath seemed too loud, too raspy. Her heart felt too slow, and the heat covered her like a blanket.

“Get away from him!” she called out.

Another body flew from the mound. One guy, a demon with a long, twisting scar on his right cheek, just turned tail and ran.

These wouldn’t be the strong demons. Not attacking en masse like this. The weak ones hunted in packs. Especially when they were going after a big kill.

A knife glinted. “Get away from him!” she screamed the words again and, this time, her voice cut through their fury.

Three demons turned to look at her.

So did Zane. He wasn’t on the bottom of the pack. He was still standing. Swinging, knocking back demons and grinning like some kind of madman.

More demons were running out of Dusk. Like freaking sharks, they could smell blood in the air.

Soon enough, they’d be smelling fire.

A smile lifted her lips. The rush of heat had her whole body tensing, her nerves jumping.

Nothing like it.

A line of fire sprang at her feet, then the flames raced for the demons. Their yells and curses filled the air as they faced the new threat.

The flames flickered, twisted. Ah…fighting power with power.

Whenever possible, she avoided the demons. After all, they knew how to play with the elements, and she didn’t like to waste energy pitting her power against theirs. But…

These guys were no match for her.

She fed the flames, and they burned hotter. Two more demons ran away. The door of Dusk slammed shut.

More yells. More grunts. Zane caught the wrist of the demon with the knife. Zane wrenched down hard, and Jana wondered if he’d broken the man’s wrist. Looked like he had.

The knife clattered to the ground. She let her flames close in tighter.

“Pull it back!” Zane’s bark.

The flames were dancing close to him.

The fire licked a demon. He screamed when the flames lit his clothes and he fell, rolling on the ground to battle the fire.

“Jana!”

The flames were at Zane’s feet. His gaze met hers over the fire. No fear was in that stare—and it was a completely black stare. With the flames all around him and the bloodlust fueling him, the glamour was finally gone. No more sexy green eyes. Just demon darkness.

She was looking right at the demon he tried to hide. Tried, failed. She’d seen the demon from the first moment.

She exhaled, and the flames began to flicker.

Zane ran through the fire.

What? “Zane!”

But the flames didn’t burn him. Didn’t even seem to have actually touched him. Then he was in front of her, grabbing her arm, hauling her close, and the heat of the fire pulsed beneath her skin. When his eyes widened, she knew he felt her heat. Warm to the touch, just like a sunburn, but one she’d gotten from the inside out.

Burn, baby. Burn.

His eyes were black. She knew the red glow of the charge would still fuel her stare. No lying, no hiding for either of them. Two monsters in the dark.

She swallowed, but didn’t back down.

“I thought you were running away,” he said.

She’d thought so, too. “You were outnumbered.” And more demons could be coming for him at any minute. They could talk later. “Look, we need to get out of here.”

“Yeah, we do.” Then his hands moved, fast, and something clicked around her wrist. Wait—clicked?

Oh, damn. No, no, he just hadn’t—

“We need to get out of here, baby.” Another click.

Her gaze dropped to her hand. A shining, silver handcuff circled her wrist. Another cuff circled his, locking them together.

“And don’t think about burning through it,” Zane warned. “That metal’s made out of a titanium mix, and it’s got a polymer coating that’ll block you. It’s something special that was designed just for someone like…you.”

Her teeth snapped together. “I saved you,” she gritted out, seriously pissed. Is this the way he thanked people?

But the guy was already moving. Spinning and lunging down the street and jerking her with him. It was either go with him or be dragged behind him.

Asshole.

Yeah, yeah, this was why she didn’t help people. Because when you did something nice, folks had a tendency to bite the hand that helped them.

Or handcuff it.

“Get in,” he ordered. They were beside a car. A flashy red sports car. He had the driver’s door open, and his gaze swept behind her, probably checking to make sure the demons weren’t getting ready for a second round. They weren’t. They were busy licking their wounds. “Slide over to the other seat.”

So easier said than done. She climbed inside the car. The gearshift rammed into her knees, her ass shot into the air, but she—finally!—made it to the passenger seat.

He jumped in behind her and shut the door. The engine purred, and they shot away from the curb.

“You can’t do this,” she said and that was not fear tightening her gut. She wasn’t afraid. Nothing scared her, not anymore. She hadn’t been afraid since the day she’d learned how to fight her own monsters. “I didn’t do anything to you. You can’t—”

“You’ve got a bounty on your head, baby. A bounty I’m collecting.”

The guy didn’t even look at her as he threw that out.

Her eyes slit. “I’m betting the bounty on you was worth a hell of a lot more.” And she hadn’t taken it. Because she was the crazy one, obviously.

“Oh, and just what am I going for these days?” Not worry in that deep voice. Not even a hint of concern.

Jana sucked in a deep breath. Then another. Then she tried counting to ten. No, that didn’t work. She was still pissed. “Let me go,” she told him quietly. “If you don’t, it will be the worst mistake you ever make.” Probably the last, too.

Now he did glance at her, and his smile was icy. “No, trust me, it won’t be—”

Then a semi plowed into the side of his flashy little car. The world spun, glass crunched, and Jana screamed.

 

“Just cut off his damn hand.”

The words drifted through Zane’s mind, easing past the fog, just as he felt something sharp press against his wrist.

Cut off his damn hand.

Oh, the hell, no. His eyelids flew up, and his eyes locked on the dumb punk who had a knife in his fist, a knife that was pressed against Zane’s flesh. “Don’t even think about it,” Zane growled.

The guy flinched, and his head flew up, revealing wide, bloodshot eyes.

“Do it, Ron!” The scream of someone who was gonna pay—the other idiot, the one who was holding Zane down on the hard pavement. No, the one who thought he was holding him down. Zane lunged up and sent the guy flying.

The man with the knife, Ron, scrambled back. “No, shit, we just want her.”

Her. Jana. Zane’s gaze cut to the left. She was beside him on the pavement. Since they were still bound by the cuffs, his move had jerked her up. But her eyes hadn’t opened, and she swayed, looking like a broken doll. She was pale, so pale. Her hair concealed half of her face, and her head tipped forward.

“Take off the cuffs, man,” their would-be knifer said. “Just take ’em off and walk away.”

Zane blinked. “She’s my bounty.” Was this prick really trying to steal her from him?

A soft snick reached his ears. The other idiot was back. Only this time, he had a gun. One that was cocked and ready. His red hair stuck out from his head in thick patches, and his eyes, small and dark, were locked on Zane. “What she is,” the guy said, “is a nightmare you don’t want.”

A soft moan spilled past the nightmare’s lips.

“Aw, shit, man, she’s waking up,” Ron muttered.

“Hit her.” A fast order from the gunman.

Ron pulled his fist back and got ready to take that punch.

The fuck no.

Zane let the beast out. One thought, just one…and he had the asshole with the knife flying back through the air and thudding into the redhead with the gun.

The gun fired, the bullet went wide, and Zane scooped up Jana. He held her cradled against his chest, barely feeling her weight.

They were still in the road. A deserted road at three a.m., and his car was a wreck near the broken light post.

A trap. Two in one night?

But, no, this trap hadn’t been for him this time. For her.

“Jesus, he’s one of them!” the redhead yelled and that gun came up again. Zane pulled his power close, got ready to—

A line of fire flew at the gunman. He swore and stumbled back, dropping the gun.

“Run,” Jana whispered in his ear, and he realized the woman was awake—had been awake that whole time. So good at playing weak. Had she just been planning to lie there and let the jerks cut off his hand? Probably. That would have made it easier for her to get away.

“Run,” she said again, her voice stronger, her breath blowing lightly against his ear. “They’ll have backup soon….Too many of them. They’ll take us….”

“I’d like to see them fucking try.” He tightened his hold on her as he stared at the wreckage of his car. His baby. Aw, hell. They would pay.

“They…have drugs.”

What?

“Not bullets in those guns. Run.”

Zane heard the snick of the gun’s trigger too late. He lunged to the side. A steel fist slammed into his upper arm, and Zane’s hold on Jana weakened.

“Dammit!” His head whipped back.

That bastard still held the gun—and he was getting ready to fire again.

Zane gathered his power and prepared to blast the asshole once again—but his knees gave way.

“No!” Jana hit the ground first, thudding hard against the pavement. He sagged behind her. But the woman moved fast. She jumped to her feet, wrenching him with the cuffs, and her flames raced for the two men.

An engine roared in the distance. Tires squealed.

“They’re coming.” No fear in her voice…but her voice—it sure sounded far away. Weird, when she was standing so close.

A thick heat began to spread through his blood even as a wave of nausea had Zane sucking in a deep breath.

“Get. Up.” She was yanking at him. Trying to pull him to his feet. “If you don’t move, they’ll get us both.” Her eyes were glinting in the night. “Get up.”

He looked at his left arm. Blood trickled from the hole in his shirt. Not bullets in those guns.

Drugs.

The beast inside began to claw and scream.

“Come on!” Her nails bit into his chest. “Don’t just stand there and let them take us!”

And he was standing. He’d made it back to his feet. The fire around them rose higher. Higher.

“Run with me,” she whispered.

With his body already feeling leaden, but his heart beating too fast, he did. Zane knew there wasn’t much time, not long at all depending on the drug they’d given him.

He could feel the darkness calling to him. The slide had already begun.

“Got to slow the other cars down…”

He saw her eyes narrow for an instant. Then an explosion rocked the night. A roar echoed and rolled down the street.

Zane managed to turn his head and, oh, hell… his car was in pieces, burning pieces, and the big rig was covered in flames, too.

But the flames were blocking the road, and two black SUVs were trapped behind the fire.

“Move that ass, Wynter!”

Her voice cut through the drone in his head, and he moved. One foot in front of the other. Move. Move.

Voices shouted behind them. Doors slammed. Hold it together. Get out of there. Hold it—

“Get on!” she yelled, pulling at the cuff.

He blinked. Jana was straddling a motorcycle. A motorcycle that she already had throttling. He climbed on behind her.

“You’re gonna have to stretch your arm,” she told him. “Stretch your right arm and wrap the left one around me so I can hold the handlebars.”

He stretched. His thighs pressed tight to her as he sealed his body to hers. His left arm throbbed, but he held her as close as he could.

A hot tension began to slip through his blood. A dull ache blossomed behind his eyes. And that darkness beckoned. So tempting.

“Hold on.” She gunned the bike. They bolted forward, streaking fast as another steel fist hit his back.

Sonofabitch. They’d shot him. Again. He hunched his body and tried to protect her as best he could. A chill shook him, a long, hard shudder, and his breath blew against her hair.

“Zane?” He heard her shout over the roar of the engine. “Are you okay?”

No, no, he wasn’t. His eyes squeezed shut. The drugs were slipping through his body, dragging him slowly down into hell. A hell he’d promised never to visit again. He wasn’t okay, and before he was done with her, before the thing inside was done, Jana wouldn’t be, either.

 

“What the hell happened? This was supposed to be a simple retrieval mission!”

Ron stared at his feet, refusing to meet his boss’s stare. Mostly because he knew the boss didn’t like it when folks looked too long at her face, and his eyes did have a tendency to wander. “She…ah…the demon had handcuffed himself to her. We couldn’t get them apart—” He’d waited too long to cut off the bastard’s hand. He swallowed. “But Ben shot him. The bastard took two tranq shots.” And those shots could take down an elephant. The demon would be out soon, and he’d drag the woman down with him.

Those cuffs.

They’d be easy prey once the drugs kicked in.

“You dumb sonofabitch.”

The icy growl had his gaze flying up.

“You drugged a demon,” she snapped. “They don’t react the same way humans do to the tranq. Hell, they never react the same way to anything.”

Because they were freaks. He licked his lips. The boss held a too-tight grip on her gun. “It’ll just knock him out. He’ll be a dead weight slowing her down.” Then his job would be easy. Kill the demon. Take the woman.

The boss lifted her gun and aimed it right at his chest. “It won’t knock him out. It hasn’t knocked out any demon we’ve tried it on.”

How was he supposed to know that? “Wh-what will it do?”

“It will either make him high. It will boost up his power and give him a rush he’s never had. Or…”

He gulped. Her finger was tightening around that trigger. Only, her gun was loaded with real bullets.

“Or it will make the bastard psychotic. He’ll turn on the woman and kill her long before we can get to him.” She stepped closer, her pale blond hair floating around her face. “And if that happens, guess who else will be dying?”

The promise was there, glittering in her dark gaze. His eyes began to dart to her scarred cheek….

“Now let’s get the hell out of here!” she shouted. There were sirens wailing, coming close now. No way could anyone miss the flames. The cops would swarm any minute.

They couldn’t be on the scene then. Everyone scrambled inside the two SUVs. The boss shoved him inside with her.

“Get to Jana Carter’s safe house,” she ordered the driver. “If she’s running, she’s going to try and disappear.”

The guy threw the SUV into reverse, and the vehicle spun back. He shifted gears and drove the SUV down the street, easing right past the line of approaching cop cars.

 

Jana had to get them off the road. Had to get them someplace safe before the assholes back there came hunting again.

“Are you with me?” she shouted as the engine growled.

Zane’s body was pressed close to hers, and he seemed…heavier.

“Zane?”

His lips were next to her ear. No helmet, not for either of them. If they crashed, even his demon blood wouldn’t save him.

Nothing would save her.

Her fingers tightened around the handlebars. “Zane?” Shouted louder.

“H-hurt…you…”

She tensed, but kept her eyes on the road. Can’t go back to my place. Ten-to-one odds said they already knew where she lived.

Can’t go to a hotel. Not like she could check in with the demon handcuffed to her. Explaining that to the desk clerk would be—

“If…h-hurt you…”

Oh, that just didn’t sound good. What the hell was happening to the guy back there? That left hand of his was holding way too tight to her waist.

“B-burn me…”

Hell.

They needed a safe place to crash and they needed it now.

 

The instant Baton Rouge Police Captain Antonio “Tony” Young saw the flaming remains of the red Corvette, his gut clenched, and he knew hell had come calling.

Antonio jumped out of his car and rushed forward, grabbing one of the uniforms already on the scene. “Where’s the driver?” Because he knew that car.

The young cop spun to look at him, and gulped when he saw Antonio’s face. “D-don’t know, s-sir…”

Those flames were burning so high. Antonio couldn’t see the front seat of the car. The ’Vette was smashed to hell and back, and all that fire…

“We found ’em this way. Abandoned rig and the sports car—”

A rig that had smashed right into the driver’s side door.

It takes a lot to kill a demon.

He released the cop and yanked out his phone. He punched in Zane’s number. Waited, waited…

Customer not available. The automated message clicked on, and he nearly shattered his phone.

Dammit. Antonio paced away, feeling the heat from the fire singe his skin. If Zane wasn’t answering, there was only one person he could contact.

He called Pak. Nothing happened at Night Watch without that charmer’s approval. Nothing. So it was past three a.m., Pak was probably at home, sleeping, but…

“What do you want, captain?” Pak’s smooth voice asked with no hint of sleep slurring the words.

Antonio cast a fast glance back at the wreckage, hunched his shoulders, and paced around the fire truck. “What kind of case is Zane Wynter working on right now?”

Silence.

Come on! “Pak, don’t screw with me right now. I’ve got a crew of humans out here on Montgomery Lane, and I need to know what we’re stepping into.” Because he knew the real deal about the world. He knew that all the nightmares people had—those nightmares were nothing when compared to reality.

Once upon a time, he’d thought the worst things on the streets were the human killers who sliced and diced their prey. Then he’d met the vampires. They drained their prey, tortured them, made them beg for death, and then wouldn’t let them die.

Humans weren’t the worst predators on the streets. Not even close. If only.

“There’s an Ignitor in town,” Pak finally said.

His gaze darted to the flaming vehicles. “No shit.” He exhaled. “Have you talked to Wynter in the last thirty minutes?”

“No.”

“Then we may have a problem.” May? Who was he kidding? “I’m staring at Zane’s car right now, and the flames burning it are bright enough to light the whole damn block.”

 

The cabin looked deserted. Jana shoved down the kickstand and steadied the bike. It looked deserted. Hopefully, it actually was. She’d scouted out this area before, just in case she needed a place to crash.

And I do. I really, really do.

The wooden cabin was buried in the swamp. A long, ram-shackle pier ran from the side of the cabin and skated out over that murky, green water.

“Okay, demon, we’ve got to move.” She tried to roll her shoulders, but his weight was too heavy. “Zane? Come on, Zane, move!”

She felt him flinch. Then he eased back and slid off the motorcycle. She followed him, her thighs still trembling a bit. It had been far too long since she’d gone for a wild ride on a cycle.

“The motorcycle should be safe behind these bushes,” she said. “We can go inside”—it looked like no one had been there in months, a very good thing—“and then figure out what the hell we’re going to do next.”

He just stared down at her. Dawn had finally come, lighting up the darkness, and she could see a faint rim of green around the outer edge of his irises, but the black coloring—

that demon black—was darkening. The lines on his face were tight and hard.

Jana licked her lips. “Zane?” She tugged her cuffed hand. The metal bit into her wrist.

Alone with a drugged demon. Hello, dream date.

As she stared up at him, the green in his eyes disappeared, and only the black was left. Just that deep, soulless black.

B-burn me…

She turned away from him. Not like she could get away from him, though, not with that freaking fireproof, Other–proof metal chaining them together. But when she started moving, he did, too. That was something, right?

It’s okay. He’s one of the good guys. He worked for Night Watch. He brought down the paranormals who hurt humans. He hunted them, he brought them in, or he took them out.

One of the good guys. Right, that’s what she had to remember. She risked a fast glance back at him. It was just that he didn’t look particularly good right then.

He looked like he wanted to eat her.

Jana grabbed the doorknob. Twisted. Locked, of course. Because who would leave a cabin unlocked for any squatter—like me—to come by and enter? Oh, well. She lifted her foot and kicked the door.

That hurt.

Swearing, she limped back. Zane’s left arm wrapped around her and pulled her to the side.

Okay, he felt warm, and she sure needed some warmth right then. After a charge, all of the heat left her body too fast. And it was cold out there in the swamp. The cold cut of air knifed right to the bone.

Not saying a word, Zane lifted his foot and kicked the door. The lock snapped, the door flew open, and—

And he pushed her inside.

Darkness. Dust. That musty, closed-in smell that a place got after being sealed up for too long.

She exhaled and tried not let her nose twitch. “I need to take a look at your wounds.” Not that it would do much good. The drugs would be in his system now. “I need—”

“You.” Guttural. That rough word was the only warning she had. His hands caught her arms and he spun her around, pressing her back against the wooden wall of the cabin. He crowded her in and locked his hard, hot body against hers.

The demon was aroused. His cock pushed against the front of his jeans. No mistaking that thick swell. Especially not when his lower body was crushed to hers.

Her hand pushed against him. “Zane, you’re hurt. You’ve got to—”

He jerked her cuffed hand up with his, forcing it above her head. Then his left hand caught hers and lifted it high. He pinned her to the wall. Her eyes had adjusted a bit to the interior of the cabin, and she could see him better now. The stark planes and angles of his face. His eyes…

So dark.

One of the good guys. He came into a burning building to save me, he’s not—

His mouth crashed onto hers. He caught her gasp, and his tongue drove into her mouth.

The kiss was too rough. His lips were too hard. Too demanding. He didn’t ask, didn’t seduce, he just took.

His hips thrust against hers, that thick cock sliding against her, letting Jana know exactly what her demon wanted. Me.

Her heart slammed into her chest. Her nipples were tight, too sensitive.

And damn but that demon could work his tongue.

No! This shouldn’t be happening, she knew it. Drugged. Hell. The guy probably didn’t even know what he was doing. Or who I am.

She tore her mouth away from his, panting. She needed to—

His mouth went to her throat. Licking, sucking, honing in on the spot that always made her knees go weak. Oh, hell, right there.

She choked back a moan. He was warming her with his lips and his lust. Warming her, just when she’d started to grow cold from the after-effects of the charge.

Part of her wanted to hold him tight. Wanted to dig her nails into his back and hold on for the wild ride that she knew would come. But…

But the man had taken two tranqs, and she knew what the drugs could do—demons could be so weak.

Her eyes squeezed shut. “Zane…this isn’t you.” Yeah, they’d kissed before, but that had been different. A skilled play of tongue and lips. Seduction. A tease.

This was desperate. Wild. Rough.

And, dammit, she liked it. Because the charge from the fire had burned off. The need that it left behind—always left behind—had her gut tightening. Adrenaline had filled her blood as she used her power, and without that rush, she was lost, shaken, needing.

He freed her left wrist. His hand snaked between them and found her breast. Zane fondled her through her bra, and her nipple pebbled even more for him. Her sex creamed, and she couldn’t help it—she arched her hips against him.

He wrenched open the top of her shirt, sending buttons flying. Then his hand slipped inside. Hot flesh, callused fingertips touched her. He yanked her bra out of the way and strummed her nipple.

Her teeth clenched. Not right. He was drugged. This wasn’t…Jeez, that felt good. But… “Zane!” The word burst from her.

His hand was sliding down her stomach, heading for the snap of her jeans.

Heat rolled off his body. Delicious, wonderful heat. But his eyes were blank. His touch too fierce, and—

Jana twisted and managed to break away from him. She took two stumbling steps, then the handcuffs yanked her back.

Fuck.

His left hand rose and curled around her throat. Her pulse raced against his fingers. Demons and drugs… everyone knew that was one screwed-up combination. So what, the tranqs had been some kind of sexual stimulant for him? Just great.

She turned her head and met his stare. “You’re drugged, Zane. You don’t know what the hell you’re doing.” But it sure felt good.

He blinked. Once. Twice. Real slow, and he almost looked like a robot she’d seen on a sci-fi show once, trying to process information.

His gaze dropped to her shirt front, to the gaping neckline and the black bra that was all too visible. “I know exactly what I’m doing.” His voice came out deeper, rougher than ever before. Rough, but no emotion. Too flat. Not his voice.

“Wh-what?” If…hurt…you… The guy had been trying to warn her before. Such a damn good-guy thing to do.

“I’m fucking you.”

Need ate at his gut. A white-hot, burning need that fired Zane’s body from the inside out. He could smell her. Jana. Her scent was all around him, the rich scent of her sex tormenting him.

Take.

His vision had narrowed to her. He could barely hear what she was saying because his heart drummed too loudly in his ears, the blood flowing too fast and hard.

Take.

She trembled in his grasp. Trembled. Small and weak. Ready for him. Her mouth…red and swollen. He’d kiss her. He’d touch her. He’d fuck her. He’d do anything he wanted.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, her eyes big and wide. “I know you said…but I don’t want to.”

Hurt him? Nothing could hurt him. No one.

“I don’t want to, but I will. And you’ll probably even thank me for this tomorrow.” Her chin tilted back. “Take your hand off me or—”

He laughed at her. Laughed, picked her up, and tossed her onto the old bed in the corner. Dust billowed in the air.

“I warned you,” she said, then bit her lip as fire crackled in the air. A hot, thick circle of orange flame.

He waved his hand and the fire vanished.

“Wh—” She shook her head, sending that black mane flying over her shoulders. Her eyes narrowed, and the fire flared again.

With barely a thought, he put out the fire. The power of the demon burned wild and free in him, pulsing, just beneath the skin.

His knees hit the mattress, and then he covered her body. “That the best you got?” Wouldn’t be good enough. Nothing would.

A thick, choking darkness pressed against him, and she was the only damn light he could see. Her…and her flames. Already flickering again.

His face hovered over hers. “You can’t hurt me.” His temples throbbed. And her smell…fucking driving me crazy. There was nothing like the scent of a woman’s arousal. And Jana was aroused. He smelled her cream, and he had felt the tight buds of her nipples. “Nothing can hurt me.”

“Really? Sorry to do this but…” Then her knee drove into his groin. A vicious, fast drive that sent pain radiating through his body. “But our first time together isn’t going to be while you’re flying on tranqs.”

Fuck. His hand locked around her hip. The light around her face began to fade, even as the flames flew higher, burned brighter. His fingers clamped onto her flesh.

Burn, let the fucking fire burn, can’t touch me, can’t hurt me.

“Zane?” A breath of sound, a gasp, lost.

Her gaze caught his. There was fear in her eyes. Fear lurking in that river of blue.

Afraid…of me.

Monster.

He had her on the bed. His body shoved hard against hers. What the hell was he doing?

His back teeth clenched, and he fought through the waves of lust, through the darkness tangling his mind and the need that stole his breath.

“Something’s wrong with you…your eyes….”

He squeezed his eyes shut and fought to pull back the beast. But he was slipping off the leash. Slipping.

Her breath whispered over his face.

“It’s okay,” he lied, and he forced his hand off her hip. Her scent. “I’m in control now.” His fingers gripped the old, dirty covers. Ripped them. His lashes lifted, slowly. Her eyes were on him and she instantly trapped his gaze.

Bed. Jana. Sweet flesh. Hot fire.

“It’s okay,” he said again, growling the words and hoping like hell that he could stay in control. Focus.

What was happening to him? His body was so tight. Ready to explode. And he wanted her more than he wanted breath. Wanted her, open and ready, with the heat blazing around them. No, from them.

His head was going to explode. A hard, fierce pounding thundered at both temples, and a flicker of light danced in the air.

“Jana, it’s going to be all…right.”

Her breath sighed out.

He could hold on to his control. He could keep the devil inside. He could—

Jana shouted his name, and Zane blacked out.

 

“Zane? Zane!”

He’d crashed on top of her. His eyes had flickered in those last few moments, shooting back and forth from green to black, and she’d thought, really thought for a moment there, that he was coming back. Him, Zane, not the demon inside him.

Then his eyes had flashed pitch black.

And he’d slammed into her. No, onto her.

She tried to suck in a deep breath. Tried and failed. Oh, the guy weighed a ton. Of course. And he had her smashed into the lumpy mattress. “Uh, Zane?” She tried tapping his shoulder.

Nothing.

His head was nestled in the crook of her neck. He breathed softly now, the light puffs of air sending a shiver over her each time they touched her sensitive flesh.

Alive, just passed out.

She shifted a bit as she tried to maneuver from underneath him, but the guy was pure muscle. Thick muscle.

Her breath rasped out, and she stared up at the ceiling. “Great. Just great.”

Trapped beneath a demon. Talk about one hell of an ending to her already screwed-up night.

 

Antonio stared at the fax he’d just received. The woman in the grainy photo didn’t look particularly dangerous. Delicate features, wide eyes. Sexy mouth.

But if he’d learned anything in this business…well, it was that the surface lied.

“Put out an APB for Jana Carter,” he told Officer Penton. The fresh-faced kid stood next to him, watching with narrowed eyes and nervous hands. “This woman is wanted in connection with a series of arsons in New Orleans,” and probably a few in Baton Rouge. “We’ve got intel to suggest that she’s in the area.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell the cops out there to be careful. This one is extremely dangerous.”

“She’s armed?”

Didn’t have to be armed to be dangerous. “Yes,” he lied. He seemed to spend most of his days lying. “She’s not to be approached. If she’s spotted, I want to be contacted ASAP.” He held Penton’s stare, driving the point home. “No one is to approach or try to apprehend her without me.” Because if the cops went up against someone like her—

He’d be cleaning up the ashes.

Penton nodded quickly and hurried off to spread the news. Antonio looked down at his watch. Almost noon. It had sure taken Pak a long time to play ball and send that fax. The guy must have been holding out, hoping for word from Zane. Word that hadn’t come.

Where was the demon? Was he alive? No bodies had been found in the Corvette, but that didn’t mean Zane was still breathing. Not with an Ignitor out there. If she’d been letting her fire free, the poor bastard could be surrounded by the flames.

 

Zane awoke t. . .